Welcome to the eighth edition of ACTC Newsletters - a regular communication to keep you updated with info from around the Classic Trials scene.

Up and coming Events

Photo - Riley 9 Tourer driven by Sean Bramhall on Sandale on the 2018 Northern Trial. Myke Pocock, Clerk of Course, recalls one of the most funny things was when Nicola Butcher hit that deep rut (photo above) in her Beetle with two kids in the back in their Recaro kids seats. The front of the car was a good two feet off the deck, a good few buckets of good quality Cumbria clart stuck to the front end but both kids remained asleep. What a hoot!

Cotswold Clouds Trial - Sunday 2nd February 2020

Entries are closed but there are still opportunities to get close-up to the action by Marshalling - please contact Gill Hayward on 07970 105208 or email [email protected]

Launceston Trial - Sunday 9th February 2020

Launceston & North Cornwall Motor Club are celebrating their 100th year! The trial will again run in its popular format as a single venue trial held in Eastcott & Lew Woods. As always we hope to introduce some new sections and of course sections from the Tamar Trial will be included.

Membership to Launceston & North Cornwall Motor Club for the year will as usual be offered anyone who enters the trial. Therefore competitors from any club, or indeed if you have yet to renew your club membership, all are very much welcome to enter the trial as you will automatically become a member of the organising club upon entry. We hope you can join us on Sunday 9th February and look forward to providing you with a good day’s sport.

Exmoor Trial - Sunday 16th February 2020

Chris Barham has taken over as Clerk of the Course with many of the ‘old’ guard in evidence as support. You will note the event is 3 weeks later than norm, this has moved us away from being ‘piggy in the middle’ of two other championship events, this hopefully not only helps the entry numbers but also the availability of marshals.

On the subject of marshals, the trial cannot run unless there are sufficient Marshals. If you or any of your friends want a day out involved in motorsport (or part of a day) why not come and help, please contact the Chief Marshal as soon as possible: Becey Macey on 07708 764622.

This year’s route is approximately 70 miles on OS Map 180 in North Devon with a real mixture of sections which are non-car/motorcycle breaking including the popular High Bray which can be quite a challenge.

The start and finish will be at McDonalds Restaurant, Roundswell, Barnstaple. Download Regs here - for any other info contact Chris: Mob 07749 970529 or Howard Dark Tel: 01884 821017.

Northern Trial - Saturday 22nd February 2020

The 2020 Northern Classic Trial has a compact route of 57 road and 20 forestry miles around the Northern Lake District visiting many of the sections from previous years including the infamous Sandale, Ladyside and Big Cockup. We will use variable tyre pressures, diversions and a few restarts to make the trial more enjoyable for all competitors.

The start venue is at the Hope’s Auction Mart in Wigton, they are geared up for farmers and we fit in well. Very good hot food and drinks will be available before the start and after the finish. Download Regs, or enter online here.

Camel Heights Trial - Sunday 1st March 2020

Held in Dunmere Wood near Bodmin. This is an excellent single venue event with challenging, slippery forest sections. The event is again open to solo motorcycles and sidecars this year. Download Regs here.

Chairmans Trial - Sunday 8th March 2020

Starting in Holsworthy and visiting sections around the North Cornwall / Devon border. Some current and ex MCC sections such as Cutliffe Lane and the always challenging sections in Ivyleaf Woods. This event is a championship round for bikes, (the Taw & Torridge is the clubs championship event for cars, later in the year). Download Regs here

Wheels and Tyres

Given the inevitability that full-profile tyres will become more scarce and expensive in the future due to the lack of application on modern cars, there will come a time when lower profile tyres will need to be used for affordability and availability reasons.

Should we therefore start to consider some relaxation of the wheel size rules to accommodate this?

A discussion took place at the Sept 2019 ACTC Meeting where it was suggested that only wheels and tyres which will fit under standard wings and archways would be considered.

It was also mentioned that under items T11.12 & T11.12.5, page 358 in the Blue Book, that tyres and wheels for trials (car trials) are more or less free, so the above proposal might bring classic trials more in line with this.

It is suggested that if agreed this relaxation would apply to classes 1 - 7 & 90 and that Clubs should discuss with their members and report back at the April 2020 ACTC meeting.

Do you have a view on this? If so then please contact your Club rep and let them know.

There's no doubt that doing the whole Championship and getting 9 decent results currently requires significant travel and associated expense. Therefore a proposal is being developed for the April ACTC meeting to reduce this from the best 9 results to the best 7 for each of the national Championships.

It is hoped this will reduce the cost and open-up the Championships, making it more viable for more people successfully gain awards.

If this agreed at the April 2020 ACTC meeting then it will be backdated to include the whole 2020 Events Calendar.

Not entered the ACTC yet? It's not too late!

if you join by March then your results from the whole 2020 season will count.

Cars : £11 (£4 for Navigator) Bikes : FREE for 2020

You can now enter the championships quickly and easily online, just enter your details and then pay by Paypal or card.

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ACTC Dinner & Awards Presentation

We would like to invite you to the ACTC Dinner and Awards Presentation, celebrating the 2019 trialling season at 7pm for a 7.30pm start on Saturday the 28th of March 2020 at the Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter, Devon.

Accommodation is available and can be booked directly with the hotel. This is the evening preceding the Torbay Trial, therefore trailer parking has been arranged to accommodate competitors. The hotel is also the start and finish venue for the Torbay.

The required dress code for the evening is smart (No jeans please).

Please find attached the menu available for the evening. Ticket prices are £29.95. If you wish to attend, please complete this form and return by Friday the 13th of March 2020.

If you would like to book accommodation, please contact the Exeter Court Hotel on 01392 832121. Please mention the ACTC Room Discount & evening function when booking.

We look forward to seeing you on the evening.

Golds Galore on the Exeter

A dry Exeter meant lots of medals for competitors, with Simms and Clinton being the main stoppers, as Simon Eddy and Dean Partington took the top honours.

The provisional results show Simon Eddy & Xanthia Petherick took the William Bray Cup on the Honda XR outfit, beating Danny Haste on his Class B Beta X Trainer, and Patrick Lloyd Jacob on the T100 Triumph by 0.1 seconds on the timed tests. ACTC competitors Rick Lees and Kathy Martin both had great starts to their 2020, taking gold medals on their Class A and B machinery respectively. Richard Dawe also took a Copper medal in Class 0, aboard his trusty Yamaha Serow. N Kinnard took Class C, just edging out Dave Craddock on timed tests, and Andy Abraham had the Class D award with Simon Eddy taking the premier award.

On 4 wheels, Dean Partington won the Austin Hannam Cup, besting the rest of the field by more than 5 seconds on the timed tests, and being one of only 2 Class 8 competitors to climb Simms. The other was Alistair Moffatt, who took Best in Class 8 after failing Clinton. Class 1 was awarded to Dave Carter, who climbed past the A Boards on Simms to take the class from Ian Cundy, who took the other Gold and accumulated 5 championship points from it. Ian Moss took Class 3 in his new build, a Lotus twin-cam powered Anglia Estate, set to make its next appearance at the Cotswold Clouds. 2019 Triple winners Greg Warren and Lester Keat in the famous Avenger also took gold medals, and ACTC competitor Rob Holden took a silver for his first points of the 2020 season.

Ryan Tonkin won Class 4 from Nicola Butcher in a battle of the Beetles, and Stuart Roach won Class 5 in his HRG, from the Scimitars of Stuart Highwood and Bill Moffatt. The next 8 competitors in Class 5 were all denied a Gold by Simms. Brian Hampson took the inaugural Class 90 win, and 5 championship points, by taking the only clean sheet in class. Only he and Michael Vanstone piloted their X90's to the top of Simms, and with the latter failing Clinton, this left Brian to take the class. Other Class 90 championship contenders Rob Wells and Mark Hoppe took 3 points apiece with silver medals.

The event was well received, with the extensive hill repairs on Simms, Tipley and Tillerton making the trial much smoother than in previous years.

The New ACTC Facebook Group

Are you joining ACTC for 2020?

Come along and join the new ACTC Facebook Group, open to all championship contenders and members of ACTC. The group is up and running, so join to keep up to date with all the latest news!

Find the new group here, or search for "ACTC Classic Trials" on Facebook.

Class 90 Takes Overall Victory on Clee

The first full round of the ACTC championships was the Clee Hills, and competitors were treated to a bright but chilly day in Shropshire. Once again the event attracted a strong entry, boosted by its Class O entry.

A revised set of results were issued a week after the event, and these showed Nick Deacon took the Fray Cup for 1st overall car, in his Class 90 Suzuki on 5 penalty points. Gary Browning in his Class 6 Beetle dropped 6 to take 2nd overall, and Aaron Haizelden finished 3rd a further 3 points back on 9. 4th overall went to Ian Facey, driving son Matt's Wheelspin winning BMW, and 5th went to Dave Haizelden, who dropped 10 in his Scimitar SS1. Ian Davis had a fantastic day in Class 8 to take the class and 6th overall, on 14 points, with his nearest competitor in class being Adrian Marfell, finishing 10th overall another 14 points further back on 28. 7th overall, and winner of Class 7 was Nick Aldridge, who had a fantastic day in his Honda powered Smart Roadster to beat Ray Ferguson in his well sorted Liege. Ray took 9th overall, with Mark Smith taking 8th overall and 2nd in Class 6.

The bikes had a tough day in the slippery conditions, but John Kenny took the overall victory on 27 points on his Class B1 Beta Enduro, with John Cull 2nd on his BSA, 11 points further back. Kathy Martin got her championship defence underway with a strong 3rd place finish, narrowly beating new championship contender George Godkin by 2 points.

The next championship event for cars is the Cotswold Clouds, and for bikes the Exmoor.

2020 Calendar

The 2020 Event Calendar is now available to view on the ACTC website, showing the dates of all events in 2020. It can be viewed in full here, below is a list of all championship rounds.